Virus cases hit record high in Indonesia

By Nicky Aulia Widadio

JAKARTA (AA) – Indonesia reported 1,241 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the highest single-day rise since the country’s first cases were detected in early March.

The total case count is now at 34,316, while 36 more fatalities have raised the death toll to 1,959, according to Achmad Yurianto, spokesperson for Indonesia’s COVID-19 task force.

He said recoveries have risen to 12,129 after 715 more patients were discharged from hospitals over the past 24 hours.

This was the second day of more than 1,000 cases in Indonesia, and the official explained that the surge was “due to aggressive contact tracing.”

The highest number of cases – 273 – was reported in East Java, followed by 189 in South Sulawesi, 157 in Jakarta, 139 in Central Java, and 127 in South Kalimantan.

Six provinces recorded no new cases over the past 24 hours.

Yurianto said 17,757 tests were conducted since Tuesday, pushing the total to 446,918.

*Writing by Maria Elisa Hospita from Anadolu Agency's Indonesian-language service in Jakarta